offence

noun

of‧fenceW3British English; offense American English

1 [countable]SCCan illegal action or a crimeCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS criminal offence serious/minor offence first offence (=the first illegal thing that someone has done) commit an offence capital offence (=a crime for which death is the punishment) federal offense American English (=a very serious offence against the law of the US, rather than against state law) driving/parking etc offence it is an offence to do something make something an offence/make it an offence to do something a punishable offence an offence punishable by/with something